Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 6th & 7th December 2020

Correct Answer: C. Boris Johnson

Explanation: United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is expected to be the chief guest at 2021 Republic day with Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inviting him. Johnson, on his part, has invited PM Modi to the G-7 summit in the United Kingdom next year. The last British prime minister at the Republic Day parade was John Major in 1993.

Correct Answer: C. New Zealand

Explanation: New Zealand has declared a “climate emergency” and promised to make its public sector carbon neutral by 2025. New Zealand now joins 32 other countries that have declared a climate emergency. They include Japan, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. Prime Minister of  New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern told legislators that the climate emergency declaration was “an acknowledgment of the next generation – an acknowledgment of the burden that they will carry if we do not get this right and do not take action now”.

Correct Answer: B. Amit Sinha

Explanation: Mahindra Group has announced the appointment of Amit Sinha as President, Group Strategy. He will succeed Anish Shah who was promoted as Deputy Managing Director in April 2020. Sinha will oversee synergy, risk and economist functions. Prior to joining Mahindra, Sinha was a senior partner and director with Bain & Company.

Correct Answer: B. 5,000

Explanation: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has informed that RBI has enhanced limits for contactless card payments from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000. This will be effective from 1 January 2021 and will be at the discretion of the user. The transfer of funds through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) will be made available round-the-clock in the next few days.

Correct Answer: C. Gitanjali Rao

Explanation: Indian-American teenager Gitanjali Rao has been named as TIME magazine’s first-ever Kid of the Year. She has been recognised for her works using ‘technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying’. The 15-year-old from Colorado, US was selected from 5,000 nominees and was interviewed by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie.

Correct Answer: C. 10 crore

Explanation: Tata Digital has invested about Rs 10 crore in the government’s rural e-commerce venture, Grameen e-Store. Tata Digital has purchased an undisclosed stake and will get a seat on the board of CSC Grameen e-Store Pvt Ltd. Grameen e-Store was launched in April 2020 and has posted Rs 120 crore in turnover so far.

Correct Answer: D. Reliance Industries Ltd

Explanation: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has topped the 2020 Fortune 500 list of Indian companies, released. The revenue of RIL clocked Rs 615,854.00, accounting for 7% of cumulative revenues and 11 per cent profit of the companies. The country’s biggest oil firm, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), bagged the second spot, followed by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at the third position. The list was published by Fortune India, which is part of the Kolkata-based RP Sanjiv Goenka Group. Here is the list of  top 10 companies on the 2020 Fortune India-500 list:

1. Reliance Industries
2. Indian Oil Corporation
3. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
4. State Bank of India
5. Bharat Petroleum Corporation
6. Tata Motors
7. Rajesh Exports
8. Tata Consultancy Services
9. ICICI Bank
10. Larsen & Toubro

Correct Answer: D. Dawid Malan

Explanation: Dawid Malan of England has attained the highest-ever rating points for batsmen in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings. The 33-year-old Malan has reached 915 points, and thus became the first player to cross the 900-point mark in the format. Before him, Australia’s Aaron Finch reached exactly 900 points in July 2018. Babar Azam (871) of Pakistan and Aaron Finch (835) of Australia is second and third in the list. India’s KL Rahul is at fourth position, while Virat Kolhi’s rank has dropped to 9th in the list.

Correct Answer: D. Roshni Nadar Malhotra

Explanation: Chairperson of HCL Technologies, Roshni Nadar Malhotra has topped the list of wealthiest women in India, according to the second edition of ‘Kotak Wealth Hurun–Leading Wealthy Women’ report. The report is compiled by Kotak Wealth Management, a division of Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Hurun India. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon and Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV are at the second and third rank respectively in the Kotak Wealth Hurun wealthy women list 2020. Shaw is also the wealthiest self-made woman on the list. 19 women from this list also feature in the Hurun India Rich List 2020, and 6 women have made it to the Hurun Global Rich List 2020.

Correct Answer: B. 5th December

Explanation: The International Volunteer Day (IVD), also called International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development is observed on 5 December every year. IVD 2020 Theme: “Together We Can Through Volunteering”. The IVD international observance was mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985. The purpose of the day to celebrate the efforts of volunteers and organizations and offer the opportunity to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels.

Correct Answer: D. United States

Explanation: The Government of India and the United States of America (USA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Intellectual Property Cooperation. As a part of this MoU, the two sides will develop Biennial Work Plan to implement the MoU which will include the detailed planning for carrying out of the co-operation activities including the scope of action. The Union Cabinet had approved the signing the MoU for the same on 19 February 2020. The MoU was signed between Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, DPIIT and Mr Andrei Iancu, who represented the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce of the United States of America respectively.

Correct Answer: C. 7.5

Explanation: The Reserve Bank expects GDP to contract 7.5% this fiscal. This was announced by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das while announcing monetary policy committee decision to keep interest rate unchanged. This is an upgrade from the central bank’s earlier forecast of 9.5% contraction in its October 2020 review. he RBI projected inflation at 6.8% for Q3 of this fiscal.  The key decisions taken in the Monetary Policy Committee meeting are:

• The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) has been kept unchanged at 4.00%.
• The reverse repo rate under the LAF has been kept unchanged at 3.35%.
• The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate have been kept unchanged at 4.25%.

RBI Monetary Policy Highlights & Key Decisions:

• Governor Shaktikanta Das proposes to put in place criteria for NBFC dividend distribution, introduces risk-based audit in large NBFCs & co-op banks.
• RTGS will soon be made 24X7 in the next few days.
• The business sentiment of manufacturing firms is gradually improving.
• CPI inflation is seen at 6.8% for Q3 and 5.8% for Q4.
• Real GDP growth for FY21 is projected at -7.5%. Q3 FY-21 GDP is seen at +0.1% while Q4 FY-21 GDP is seen at +0.7%.
• Corporate bond spreads have narrowed to pre-covid levels.
• RBI proposes to enhance limits for contactless card payments from ₹2000 to ₹5000 from Jan 2021.
• On-tap Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) will be expanded to cover other stressed sectors in tandem with Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) scheme.

Correct Answer: B. France

Explanation: The former President of France, Valery Giscard d’Estaing has passed away at the age of 94, from the complications of coronavirus. He had served as the third president of the Republic of France from 1974 to 1981. He was born on 2nd February 1926 in Koblenz, French-occupied Germany (now Germany). Giscard founded the Union for French Democracy, a center-right political party in 1978 to counter the Gaullist preponderance over the political right in France. He lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 and he also liberalized the laws on divorce, abortion, and contraception during his tenure as the President.

Correct Answer: C. Pakistan

Explanation: Noted actor, filmmaker and voiceover artiste, Ashish Kakkad, has passed away. He was one of the most prominent artists from the Gujarati film industry. As a filmmaker, Ashish was known for his Gujarati projects namely Better Half (2010) and Mission Mummy (2016). As an actor, he was seen in several Hindi films such as Kai Po Che! in 2013, and psychological thriller ‘Beyond Blue: An Unnerving Tale of a Demented Mind’ in 2015, including other Gujarati films.